The relative effect of age in international footballEurope vs south america

  1. José María Yagüe 1
  2. José María Izquierdo 1
  3. Álvaro Muñoz 1
  4. Joaquín Sánchez 2
  5. Juan Carlos Redondo 1
  1. 1 Department of Movement and Sport Sciences. University of Leon, Spain.
  2. 2 Comunidad de Madrid
    info

    Comunidad de Madrid

    Madrid, España

    ROR https://ror.org/040scgh75

Revista:
European Journal of Human Movement

ISSN: 0214-0071 2386-4095

Any de publicació: 2020

Número: 44

Pàgines: 34-49

Tipus: Article

Altres publicacions en: European Journal of Human Movement

Resum

The concept of relative age effect refers to the consequences of the physical and psychological differences that may exist between those born earlier or later within the same calendar year. The objective of the present study was to examine this phenomenon in international professional football, identifying the influences of the continent. The sample comprised 6414 subjects from 225 teams (115 UEFA and 110 CONMEBOL) from the professional football Leagues (PFL). Statistical analysis was based on the Chi-squared (X2) test followed by the odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals estimation. The main results show higher RAE in the CONMEBOL leagues (OR = 2.23) than in the UEFA leagues (OR = 1.95). In addition, in all leagues analysed, except in the Premier League of England there was an over-representation of individuals born in the first few months of the year. We can conclude that the relative age effect is consistent and exists in international football.

Referències bibliogràfiques

  • Albuquerque, M. R., Tavares, V., Lage, G. M., De Paula, J. J., Da Costa, I. T., & Malloy-Diniz, L. F. (2013). Relative age effect in Olympic Judo athletes: A weight category analysis. Science & Sports, 28(3), e59-e61. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scispo.2012.09.004
  • Augste, C., & Lames, M. (2011). The relative age effect and success in German elite U-17 soccer teams. Journal of Sports Sciences, 29(9), 983-987. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2011.574719
  • Barnsley, R. H., Thompson, A., & Legault, P. (1992). Family planning: Football style. The relative age effect in football. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 27(1), 77-87.
  • Bell,. F., Sykes, E. D., & Vidal, C. (2009). Birthdate Effects: A Review of the Literature from 1990-on: University of Cambridge.
  • Campbell, T. (2013). In-school ability grouping and the month of birth effect. Preliminary evidence from the Millenium Cohort Study. London: Centre for Longitudinal Studies.
  • Campos, F. A., Campos, L. C., Pellegrinotti, I. L., & Gómez, M. A. (2017). The Relative Age Effect in Soccer: an Analysis of the U20 Libertadores Cup. International Journal of Exercise Sciences, 10(8), 1157-1164.
  • Carling, C., Le Gall, F., Reilly, T., & Williams, A. M. (2009). Do anthropometric and fitness characteristics vary according to birth date distribution in elite youth academy soccer players?. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 19(1), 3-9. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0838.2008.00867.x
  • Cobley, S. P., Schorer, J., & Baker, J. (2008). Relative age effects in professional German soccer: A historical analysis. Journal of Sports Sciences, 26(14), 1531-1538. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640410802298250
  • Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behaviors science.(2nd). New Jersey: Laurence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers, Hillsdale.
  • Costa, I. T. D., Albuquerque, R. M., & Garganta, J. (2012). Relative age effect in Brazilian soccer players: a historical analysis. International Journal of Performance and Analysis in Sport, 12(3), 563-570. https://doi.org/10.1080/24748668.2012.11868619
  • Cumming, S. P., Lloyd, R. S., Oliver, J. L., Eisenmann, J. C., & Malina, R. M. (2017). Bio-banding in sport: applications to competition, talent identification, and strength and conditioning of youth athletes. Strength & Conditioning Journal, 39(2), 34-47. https://doi.org/10.1519/ssc.0000000000000281
  • Delorme, N., Boiché, J., & Raspaud, M. (2010). Relative age effect in elite sports: Methodological bias or real discrimination? Eurpean Journal of Sport Sciences, 10(2), 91-96. https://doi.org/10.1080/17461390903271584
  • González-Víllora, S., Pastor-Vicedo, J. C., & Cordente, D. (2015). Relative age effect in UEFA championship soccer players. Journal of Human Kinetics, 47(1), 237-248. https://doi.org/10.1515/hukin-2015-0079
  • Gutiérrez, D. (2013). Review of relative age effects and potential ways to reduce them in sport and education. Retos: Nuevas tendencias en educación física, deporte y recreación(23), 51-63.
  • Gutiérrez, D., Vicedo, P., Carlos, J., Gonzalez Villora, S., Jordan, C., & Ricardo, O. (2010). The relative age effect in youth soccer players from Spain. Journal of Sports Sciences and Medicine, 9(2), 190-198.
  • Haycraft, J. A., Kovalchik, S., Pyne, D. B., Larkin, P., & Robertson, S. (2018). The influence of age-policy changes on the relative age effect across the Australian Rules football talent pathway. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 21(10), 1106-1111. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsams.2018.03.008
  • Helsen, W. F., Baker, J., Michiels, S., Schorer, J., Van Winckel, J., & Williams, A. M. (2012). The relative age effect in European professional soccer: Did ten years of research make any difference? Journal of Sports Sciences, 30(15), 1665-1671. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2012.721929
  • Helsen, W. F., Van Winckel, J., & Williams, A. M. (2005). The relative age effect in youth soccer across Europe. Journal of Sports Sciences , 23(6), 629-636.
  • Malina, R. M., Bouchard, C., & Bar-Or, O. (2004). Growth, maturation, and physical activity. Human Kinetics
  • Mulazimoglu, O. (2014). The relative age effect (RAE) in youth and professional soccer players in Turkey. The Anthropologist, 18(2), 391-398. https://doi.org/10.1080/09720073.2014.11891557
  • Musch, J., & Grondin, S. (2001). Unequal competition as an impediment to personal development: A review of the relative age effect in sport. Developmental review, 21(2), 147-167. https://doi.org/10.1006/drev.2000.0516
  • Padrón-Cabo, A., Rey, E., García-Soidán, J. L., & Penedo-Jamardo, E. (2016). Large scale analysis of relative age effect on professional soccer players in FIFA designated zones. International Journal of Performance and Analysis in Sport, 16(1), 332-346. https://doi.org/10.1080/24748668.2016.11868890
  • Peeters, T. (2018). Testing the Wisdom of Crowds in the field: Transfermarkt valuations and international soccer results. International Journal of Forecasting, 34(1), 17-29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijforecast.2017.08.002
  • Peña-González, I., Fernández-Fernández, J., Moya-Ramón, M., & Cervelló, E. (2018). Relative age effect, biological maturation, and coaches’ efficacy expectations in young male soccer players. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 89(3), 373-379. https://doi.org/10.1080/02701367.2018.1486003
  • Prieto, A., Pastor, J., Serra, J., & González, S. (2015). Relative Age Effect in Spanish Football: the 2013/14 Season. Apunts. Educación Física y Deportes, 121, 36-43. doi: 10.5672/apunts.2014-0983.es.(2015/3).121.05
  • Práxedes, A., Del Villar, F., Gil-Arias, A., Pizarro, D., & Moreno, A. (2019). Evolution of the relative age effect in spanish young footballers (U8 to U19). A comparative analysis in elite clubs vs. low-level clubs. European Journal of Human Movement, 43, 102-114.
  • Sedano, S., Vaeyens, R., & Redondo, J. C. (2015). The relative age effect in Spanish female soccer players. Influence of the competitive level and a playing position. Journal of Human Kinetics, 46(1), 129-137. https://doi.org/10.1515/hukin-2015-0041
  • Silva, C. J., Palma, A., Imbiriba, L. A., Ribeiro, M., & Marques Barbosa, M. A. (2015). Relationship between relative age effect and physical characteristics of young soccer players. Cultura, Ciencia y Deporte, 10(30), 227-233. https://doi.org/10.12800/ccd.v10i30.591
  • Szumilas, M. (2010). Explaining odds ratios. Journal of the Canadian Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 19(3), 227.
  • Torres-Unda, J., Zarrazquin, I., Gil, J., Ruiz, F., Irazusta, A., Kortajarena, M., & Irazusta, J. (2013). Anthropometric, physiological and maturational characteristics in selected elite and non-elite male adolescent basketball players. Journal of Sports Sciences, 31(2), 196-203. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2012.725133
  • Vaeyens, R., Philippaerts, R. M., & Malina, R. M. (2005). The relative age effect in soccer: A match-related perspective. Journal of Sports Sciences, 23(7), 747- 756. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640410400022052
  • Van den Honert, R. (2012). Evidence of the relative age effect in football in Australia. Journal of Sports Sciences, 30(13), 1365-1374. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2012.707329
  • Williams, J. H. (2010). Relative age effect in youth soccer: analysis of the FIFA U17 World Cup competition. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports, 20(3), 502-508.
  • Yagüe, J. M., de la Rubia, A., Sánchez-Molina, J., Maroto-Izquierdo, S., & Molinero, O. (2018). The Relative Age Effect in the 10 Best Leagues of Male Professional Football of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). Journal of Sports Science and Medicine, 17(3), 409.